Lowering device



May 9, 1933. s. KALISH ET AL LOWERING- DEVICE Filed Oct. 28, ,1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 7 //vv/5/v7'0/?s. SAM KALISH- ARTHUR L SLE E. 7 W6, 7451/? flTTOF/VEX Patented May 9, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENro -"Hca sAm xALIsII AND ARTHUR L. SLEE, or W rnANCIsCo, CALIFORNIA; sAID sum.

AssreNon TO sAID KALISH LOWERING DEVICE Application filed October 28, 1931. Serial No. 571,698.

Our inventionrelates to improvements in lowering devices for lowering a person from any elevation, wherein a flexible ribbon, folded repeatedly upon itself to form a jacket to be worn by said person, operates in conjunction with a suspending harness and also with means for controlling the paying out of said ribbon. V

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a new and'improved lowering device.

Another object of the invention is to provide a new and improved device of the character described which may be worn under the clothing in the form of a jacket or under garment.

A further object is to provide a new and improved device of the character set forth in which a flexible ribbon of considerable length may be so folded that it may be worn as a jacket under the clothing of an operator in a manner which will provide an efiicient method of paying out said ribbon, during a lowering process.

A still further object is to provide improved means for normally and frictionally engaging a suspending or lowering ribbon, to which a person is to be lowered maybe attached, to normally prevent the same from being paid out or released, as well as improved means for releasing said frict1onal engaging means whereby the paying out of said suspending ribbon may be controlled by the person being lowered.

We accomplish these and other ob ects by means of the improved device disclosed in the drawings forming a part of the present application wherein like characters of reference are used to designate similar parts throughout the specification and drawings, and in which- Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the device as attached to a person to be lowered Fig. 2 is an enlarged broken detailed view, disclosing the manner in which the ribbon is folded and fastened when formed into a j acket Fig. 3 is a rear elevation of the device as applied to a person; V

Fig. 4 is an enlarged plan view of the frictional ribbon engaging means; 7

Fig. 5 is an elevation of Fig. 4; I

Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional view taken on line 66 of Fig. 5; f

Fig. 7 is an enlarged vertical sectional View taken on line .7-7 of Fig. 2 and Fig. Sis a diagrammatic plan view disclosing the convolutions or folding'methodfor forming a jacket from the. folded tape.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 1 is used to designatein general a suitable harness adaptedto support the human form and provided at its upper end with suitable Shoulder straps 2 secured to the back thereof and which pass over the. shoulders of the wearer from the upper back portion thereof and have their endsdetachably secured to the upper front portion of a jacket, indicated in general by the numeral 3, formed by a suitable flexible ribbon 4 repeatedly folded upon itself by having each alternate fold overlapping diagonally, to form said jacket 3, with the opposite ends of the fold aligned to form jacket edges 5 which are detachably connected to each other to hold said jacket aroundan operator by .means of suitable detachable snaps or fasteners 6, or other quickly detachable fastening devices, as disclosed in F ig. 2 of the drawings, to hold the jacket 3 formed thereby upon the form of a wearer orop erator. Y j Oneend of the flexible ribbon 4eis detachably connected, as at 7, to the lower rear portion of theharness 1, and the oppositeend, after passing through a ribboniholding de Vice indicated in. general by the numeral 8, secured tothe upper back portion of the harness 1, passes over one shoulder of the wearer, so as to be accessible when required for use, and has detachably secured thereto a suitable fastening or anchoring device,-such, for instance, as a hook 9. f

Thelfolds of the flexible ribbon 4 overlap and are detachably held together at their ad jacent or overlapping edges by means of a plurality of suitable snapfasteners or other disclosed in Fig. 7 of the'drawings so. that 'suitable'detachable fastening devices 11- as forming the jacket 3, may be readily detached The holding device comprises a stationary U-shaped member 12 secured to said device 8.

A second U-shaped movable member 14 is held to the device 8 by suitable transverse members 16 loosely engaging apertures within the flanges 1,7 of, the device 8. A suitable cam 19 is mounted upon a transverse shaft 21 rotatably mounted between the flanges 17 and is held in rigid frictional engagement with the back of themovable parallel members 14 by means of a comparatively strong spring 22 coiled upon said shaft 21 and en gaging the flanges 17 and the cam 19 to normally exert a pressure or tension upon said cam 19 and thereby cause the U-shaped member 14 to grip the ribbon 4 between the movi able member 14 and stationary member 12, as

disclosed in Figs. 4 and 6 of the drawings, to normally prevent movement of said ribbon 4 and thereby sustain the weight of an operator suspended by said ribbon 4.

Each end of the shaft 21 is provided with i a suitable arm or lever 23 connected by a bar 24 to which is attached a suitable cord 26, which, after passing thru suitable eyelets or guides 27 at the bottom of the flanges 17, pass around the jacket 3 and terminate in a ring 28 suspended in front of the jacket 3 so as to be, accessible to the wearer.

The U-shaped members 12 and 14 are arranged in parallel spaced relation and their flanges straddle the several fasteners 6 and 11 secured upon each side of said ribbon 4, whereby said ribbon 4 may be dispensed or passed through this controlling device 8 without pressing or destroying said fasteners.

The ribbon 4 is passed between the spaced parallel members 12 and 14 as disclosed in Figs. 4 and 6 of the drawings, and the spring 22 and cam 19 cause the flanges of the member 14 to press said ribbon 4 tightly against the stationary parallel member 12 and thereby normally prevent said ribbon 4 from being dispensed; WVhen, however, the ring 28 is pulled, the cord 26 will pull the levers or arms 23 downwardly and cause the cam 19 to release the movable U-shaped member 14 and thereby also release the ribbon 4 passing between the'spaced parallel members 12 and 14 and thereby freelypermit the paying out of said ribbon. Y V

In operation, the device is worn under the clothing with the hook 9 concealed under the clothing.

'When the wearer or operator desires to lower himselffrom any elevation he grasps the hook 9 and after pulling upon the ring 28, to permit a suflicient portion of the ribbon 4 to pay out throughthe holding device 8, attaches or secures the fastening hook 9 to any i bl supporting device, not shown.

The wearer or operator then lowers himself ber 14 of the holding device 8 upon the back of the harness 1. This will permit theribbon 4 to be paid out through said holding'devi-ce,

and the speed of descent will be in proportion to the amount said movable member 14 is released.

As the ribbon 4 is dispensed or paid out said ribbon will be released and pulled from the jacket 3, the detachable fasteners 6 and 11 being readily disengaged, until the entire ribbon has been paid out, or until the operator has reached a support.

The end of the ribbon 4 is then detached from the lower portion of the harness 1, as at 7 in Fig. 3 of the drawings, pulled through the holding device 8, and after. the entire ribbon has been recovered, the same. is again folded upon itself to reform the jacket 3, after which the proper end is re-secured to the harness 1 as at 7, and fitted again about the person of the operator as disclosed in Fig. 1' of thedrawings.

While we have illustrated, in Fig. 1 of the drawings, certain ends of the folds of the ribbon 4 extended across the space between the edges'of the jacket, we do not confine ourselves to such an arrangement as it is obvious that the ribbonw4 may be folded to make a completely enclosing jacket 3 with the edges formed by the ends of the. folds meeting thruout the front of said jacket. c

Having thus described our invention what we claim as new and desire to secure by LettersPatent is- 1. A lowering device comprising a harness adapted to support the human form; a flexible ribbon folded upon itself repeatedlyin overlapping folds and having each fold detachablyconnected toan adjacent fold and form ing a jacket,one end of said ribbon being attached to said harness; and a fastening device connected to the other end of said ribbon whereby a person may be lowered from an elevation by securing said fastening device and paying out said ribbon. I

. 2. A lowering device comprising a harness adapted to support the human form; a flexible ribbon folded upon itself repeatedly in overlapping folds and having each fold detachably connected to an adjacent'fold and forming a jacket, one end of said ribbon being attached to saidharness, a fastening device connected to the other end of 'saidribbon whereby a person may be lowered from an elevat-ion by securing said fastening device and paying out said ribbon; and means for normally engaging the ribbon to same from paying out.

prevent f the 7 3. A lowering device comprising a harness adapted to support the human form; a flexible ribbon folded upon itself repeatedly in overlapping folds and having each fold detachably connected to an adjacent fold and forming a jacket, one end of said ribbon being attached to said harness; a fastening device connected to the other end of said ribbon whereby a person may be lowered from an elevation by securing said fastening device and paying out said ribbon; means for normally engaging the ribbon to prevent the same from paying out; and means for releasing the ribbon engaging means to permit the paying out of said ribbon and thereby permit an operator wearing said device to control said paying out of said ribbon.

4. A lowering device comprising a harness adapted to support the human form; a flexile ribbon folded upon itself repeatedly, said folds overlapping diagonally and each fold detachably connected to an adjacent fold to form a acket for said form, one end of said ribbon being detachably connected to said harness; and a suitable hook detachably connected to the opposite end of said device whereby a person wearing said lowering device may be lowered from an elevation by paying out said ribbon.

5. A lowering device comprising a harness adapted to support the human form; a flexible ribbon folded upon itself repeatedly, said folds overlapping diagonally and each fold detachably connected to an adjacent fold to form a. jacket for said form, one end of said ribbon being detachably connected to said harness; a suitable hook detachably connected to the opposite end of said device whereby a person wearing said lowering device may be lowered from an elevation by paying out said ribbon; and means for frictionally engaging said ribbon and normally preventing the paying out thereof.

6. A lowering device comprising a harness adapted to support the human form; a. fiexible ribbon folded upon itself repeatedly, said folds overlapping diagonally and each fold detachably connected to an adjacent fold to form a jacket for said form, one end of said ribbon being detachably connected to said harness; asuitable hook detachably connected to the opposite end of said device whereby a person wearing said lowering device may be lowered from an elevation by paying out said ribbon; means for frictionally engaging said ribbon and normally preventing the paying out thereof; and means for releasing said ribbon engaging means to permit the paying out of said ribbon whereby said paying out may be controlled.

7; A lowering device comprising a harness adapted to support the human form; a flexible ribbon folded upon itself repeatedly to form a jacket having substantially horizontally disposed folds, alternate folds overlapping diagonally and having the ends of said folds alined to form ed es on the front of said jacket, one of said e ges meeting and detachably connected to said other edge, one end of said ribbon being detachably connected to said harness; and a fastening device detachably connected to the opposite end of said ribbon whereby a person may secure said opposite end of said ribbon and be lowered from an elevation by paying out said ribbon;

8. A lowering device comprising a harness adapted to support the human form; a flexible ribbon folded upon itself repeatedly to form a jacket having substantially horizontally disposed folds, alternate folds overlapping diagonally and having the ends of said folds alined to form edges on the front of said jacket, oneof said edges meeting and detachably connected to said other edge, one end of said ribbon being detachably connected to said harness; a fastening device detachably connected to the opposite end of said ribbon whereby a person may secure said opposite end of said ribbon and be lowered from an elevation by paying out said ribbon; and means for normally engaging the ribbon friction ally to normally prevent the same from paying out. I

V 9. A lowering device comprising a harness adapted to support the human form; a flex ible ribbon folded upon itself repeatedly to form a jacket having substantially horizontally disposed folds, alternate folds overlapping diagonally and having the ends of said folds alined to form edges on the front of said jacket, one of said edges meeting and detachably connected to said other edge, one

end of said ribbon being detachably connected to said harness; a fastening device detachably connected to the opposite end of said ribbon whereby a person may secure said opposite end of said ribbon and be In witness whereof, we hereunto set our signatures. V

SAM KALISH. ARTHUR L. SLEE, 

